HAUNTED BY NIGHTMARES
by SPN-hester
Summary: The story takes place in season 4 right after the episode "Wishful thinking". Dean has a nightmare about his time in Hell. Sam is there to comfort him. No wincest, only brotherly love. Angst-Dean! Protective-Sam!.


By 7am Sam couldn't sleep any longer. After spending more than half an hour tossing and turning, he decided it was time to get up and take a shower. He thought he could take advantage of the early hours by doing some research for their new case, while waiting for Dean to wake up.

After a quick shower Sam got dressed. He saw his reflection in the wardrobe's mirror only to find out that 3 days without shaving takes its toll and it was time to look decent again. So with nothing else better to do, he went back to the bathroom. While shaving, a noise coming from the bedroom caught his attention. It seemed like Dean was saying something but he couldn't make heads or tails of what exactly. He opened the bathroom door a bit and, without stepping out, said:

_"Dean, are you awake? Can't hear you, man. You'll have to speak louder"_ .. but he got no response.

A feeling of uneasiness shot through him like a bolt, so he thought he'd better check on Dean. He craned his head around the door. He saw Dean sleeping in his bed, face down on the pillow. Sam thought he might have imagined that noise or Dean may have said something while sleeping. Sam finished shaving and packed away his razor, when suddenly he heard a terrifying loud groan coming from Dean's bed. This time he was sure he wasn't imagining things. That was the kind of sound that could make your blood freeze.

Sam bolted to the bedroom to find Dean moving franticly in his bed. He was trembling; his arms were moving uncontrollably in every direction, like if he was fighting an invisible creature. He was sweating and his eyes were still closed. Sam panicked when he saw his brother like that. _"Dean must have been having the worst nightmare ever"_ he thought.

Dean was actually groaning and yelling _"let go of me… no! Leave me alone!... stop it, please… can't take it anymore… stop!"._ His voice was turning deeper and more hoarse. It was hard to understand most of the words and sounds that came out of Dean's mouth.

Sam rushed to Dean's side to wake him up. It was a quite difficult task as Dean's movements made almost impossible for Sam to get a hold of his brother's arms. Despite Sam's build and strength, it was very difficult to keep Dean still on the bed. Sam grabbed Dean by the shoulders and shook them.

_"Hey Dean! Wake up!.. Dean… Come one dude, wake up!"_ Sam said, half yelling and half begging. Despite Sam's efforts, Dean didn't open his eyes. Sam was shaking Dean's shoulders harder and raising his voice, urging him _"Come on! Dean! For God's sake, WAKE UP!.." _

Dean finally opened his eyes. He was completely disorientated. His vision was blurred. He felt his t-shirt wet with his own sweat and stuck to his chest. Something (or someone) was keeping a tight hold of him. He couldn't move and his shoulders started to hurt. All the images of fire, rivers of blood, terrifying screams and the intense smell of sulfur started to fade away slowly.

His vision tried to focus, but it was damn hard. Dean could still feel his heart pounding very fast; he thought that at this pace it may come out his chest. Still trembling, a blur image was forming before his eyes. All the screaming he had been surrounded with, for God knows how long had disappeared and it had been replaced by what seemed to be his name, repeated over and over by a familiar voice. The voice was getting stronger and clearer with every passing second, now he could clearly hear it saying _"Dean"._

Sam was now loosening his grip on Dean's shoulders but still holding him still, so that Dean couldn't hurt himself with another manic movement _"Dean… calm down ok?.. it was a nightmare… Dean… it's me, Sam" _Sam said in a soft voice_"Look at me, man…." _Dean turned his attention to the voice. Now he could see it clearly. He recognized the hulk figure in front of him that was gripping his shoulders. It was Sam.

Sam was clearly panicking; he'd never seen Dean in such a state of distress. For a moment Sam thought Dean wouldn't be able to snap out of it. Then, relief washed over Sam like a tidal wave, when he saw his brother finally meeting his gaze.

Dean struggled into a sitting position, laying his back against the headboard, his eyes fixed on Sam's. Then he realized that everything had been a nightmare. Such a vivid nightmare that it made it almost impossible to come back to reality. A flash of all those scary images, pain and fear came back to him all of a sudden. Sam's worried eyes were carefully studying each of Dean's movements. _"Dean please say something… you're killing me… are you ok?"_

In Dean's mind the terror and fear he had just experienced, were still too present and too real and they took over him. Without having any control whatsoever on his reaction, Dean started shivering; he felt his eyes full of tears pressing to come out. He covered his eyes with one hand hiding from Sam's concerned look, pressing the other arm against his stomach where he felt a sharp pain, coming from his tensed muscles. Then, he involuntarily choked out a sob, followed by a line of continuous brief sobs that led him into a crying outburst. Dean could neither believe what had got into him, nor control it.

Without saying anything, Sam got closer to Dean and wrapped his arms around him. Dean rested his head against Sam's shoulder in complete defeat. He couldn't stop sobbing. Sam held him tight and in a soft voice said _"I got you… You're safe now…. It was just a nightmare… I got you"_ hoping that those words would sooth Dean and calm him down.

After a few minutes, Dean's sobs slowed down and his breathing stabilized and bit by bit he stopped sobbing. Sam, still keeping a grip on Dean's shoulders, pulled away from him to meet his brother's eyes. Sam frowned with concern _"Hey, you with me?"._ Dean slightly nodded and wipe away his tears.

Sam fetched a bottle of whiskey from the bedside table and offered it to Dean _"Come on… drink a bit, all right? It will help_". Dean took the bottle, had a couple of long gulps and gave it back to Sam, who put it back. _"Feeling better?". _Dean said nothing, but nodded.

_"Good… Listen, why don't you take a shower and we'll go to get some breakfast ok?... a full stomach always makes things look better" _Sam said, giving Dean a reassuring grin. Once again, Dean said nothing; he didn't even look into Sam's eyes. He just got up, headed to their bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Then Sam knew that it wasn't over, whatever had triggered that reaction in Dean after his nightmare, was still troubling him. Dean had never been the obedient or silent type. Sam expected at least one snide remark or a sarcastic comment from his big brother. No backchat from Dean meant that something was really wrong. Dean always replied to everything. He was "Mr. Punchline". He would outlive God trying to have the last word.

Sam stayed sitting on the edge of the bed thinking about Dean's wall of silence and that it might have been caused by Dean feeling really embarrassed by what just had happened. All in all, Dean didn't like to expose or share his feelings and emotions and what had just happened had been a prime time show of all that. Dean always put on a brave face no matter what. He wouldn't let anyone else to see his true feelings, and even less if those feelings were fear or desperation.

Dean got into the shower and leant forward letting the hot water run against his neck and shoulders. Flashes from his nightmare, or perhaps memories from his time in the pit, came back to him once again. He rested his head against the shower tiles, knowing that those memories were something that water cannot wash off. He shook his head and repeated to himself _"Come on Dean, get a grip… not real, not here"_ .

The next image that came to him was Sam's worried eyes. _"He must be freaking out",_ Dean thought. How could he face Sam after literally having a nervous breakdown in front of him? Feelings of immense embarrassment ran though his veins. The same feelings that made him leave the room without saying a simple _"I'm ok"._ Despite the countless nights that Dean had taken care of Sam with his premonitions and nightmares after Jessica's death, Dean didn't feel comfortable knowing that for once the tables were turned.

He knew Sam wouldn't let this one go easily. He would like to talk about it and that was the last thing Dean wanted to do. He would deal with it on his own way. He'd give anything just to forget about the whole thing, but mainly for Sam to forget about seeing him so emotionally weak. However, Sam deserved at least an apology. Leaving the kid in the room with no explanation and freaked out was not cool and above all, it was not fair.

Sam was doing some online research with his laptop, when he heard the shower turn off. A few moments later, Dean came out of the bathroom fully dressed and ready to go.

"_Hey… ready to get some breakfast?"_Sam said casually. He wouldn't bring up what happened before, unless Dean would. The elder Winchester had gone through enough action for one day.

Dean was staring at the floor, clearly embarrassed and not daring to meet Sam's eyes. _"Yes…but…"_ he finally managed to say._"Sam…. I'm sorry"_

_"For what"?_ said Sam while putting on his jacket and shutting down his computer.

_"What do you think, Einstein?… for sobbing like a six year old girl because I had a nightmare and leaving the room without a word.… I must win the Oscar for the most embarrassing moment of the year"_said Dean deeply ashamed.

_"Dean, THAT wasn't a random naked-in-front-of-the-class-nightmare, all right?"_ said Sam pointing at Dean's bed _"That was real terror! and I'm sure it had something to do with your time in Hell"._

Dean flinched at Sam's words. Sam noticed it but continued speaking _"I know you don't want to talk about it and I have to respect that. You said you won't explain because I wouldn't understand… and maybe I wouldn't, I don't know…The point is that you won't let me help you, so if the only thing left for me to do is comfort you after a nightmare like that, you can bet your ass that I'll do that!. No matter what you say, ok? And if you don't like it, well, too bad ..." _

Then Sam concluded saying_"…and for the record, …you don't get to be embarrassed in front of me, ok?…. Not – with– me ". _Sam paused between each word to stress their meaning.

_"I know… Thank you, Sammy…it's just…" _With just one look from Dean, Sam understood the underlying message in Dean's words.

_"Yeah, I know… but taking care of each other is a two-way street, you know? And you are not allowed to change lanes. " replied_ Sam with a smirk _"you've looked after me all your life, well, now it's payback time, bro"_

_"Bitch"_ said Dean winking at Sam.

_"Jerk" _


End file.
